Kroger Brand Giving Me Trouble?

[rana]

Okay, so I've been diagnosed for two years now and have noticed that since I've healed a lot of the initial damage and am somewhat healthy again, I am EXTREMELY sensitive, much more sensitive than I initially thought. Basically if it's not made in a dedicated facility, I will get glutened, although be it minor. I try to stay away from processed foods and eat naturally gluten free things. But still, I have been getting glutened a tiny bit here and there lately and have kept a food diary to try and narrow things down. Its been frustrating to say the least. I have realized, with a pretty high degree of certainty, that Kroger brand frozen vegetables give me a reaction (it took me a while to narrow this down as I thought there was no way vegetables would be the problem, but I am positive its them) along with Kroger brand V8 (although the v8 says gluten free on the can).

The other day I picked up some Kroger brand ground beef and noticed on the label it said 'with natural flavors'. Alarm bells went off but I shrugged it off and ate it in some homemade soup - had a reaction. Ate some cheeseburgers today using Kroger ground beef and had a reaction as well. Its very minor, a CC kind of a reaction, but no less exhausting and irritating.

I can't help but think I'm crazy. Can ground beef, with no seasonings or anything, contain gluten? Has anyone else had this problem with their ground beef or with any other Kroger products? I know the easy answer is (as I've seen on many previous posts) I'm over thinking it and probably have some other allergy I don't know about, but these reactions seem very gluten specific in nature. I seem to tolerate everything else just fine (including steak & other red meat). I can't seem to win no matter how hard I try... its always something.

Any thoughts are much appreciated! I don't know what I would do without this website....

[weluvgators]

I don't think that you are overthinking it at all. This diagnosis has caused our family to really think hard about everything we put in our mouth. I appreciate hearing your suspicions about the Kroger brand, as it is one of our main grocery stores. Unfortunately, I have not eaten the things that you mention. I think I ate the Kroger ground beef once, at my parents without obvious issues, but we source our bulk ground beef from a local farmer where we can closely monitor all of the processing and handling. We even went so far as to raise a large part of our meat last year - that was an undertaking! But it was really, really awesome!!

Our family also gets even more super sensitive if we are getting trace amounts of gluten here and there on a regular basis. So we have found that food sourcing is critical to our health and well being. Now you ate the ground beef in a soup, so what else was in the soup? Were all of the ingredients, pots and utensils certainly safe? When we were dialing down our CC issues, I found that I was getting little bits from so many places. It can certainly be frustrating.

[pricklypear1971]

I haven't purchased much Kroger brand food; however, yes there could be gluten in it. Cc from lines, etc.

I also have a problem buying pork. It's difficult to find it without being "enhanced with a solution". I don't know what's in the solutions but it makes me sick like gluten. I only buy it from places like Trader Joes or Whole Foods now. I can usually find chicken unenhanced everywhere but pork is difficult.

[sa1937]

I haven't purchased much Kroger brand food; however, yes there could be gluten in it. Cc from lines, etc.

I also have a problem buying pork. It's difficult to find it without being "enhanced with a solution". I don't know what's in the solutions but it makes me sick like gluten. I only buy it from places like Trader Joes or Whole Foods now. I can usually find chicken unenhanced everywhere but pork is difficult.

No Kroger around here but sometimes chicken is seasoned with a xx% of a salt and water solution...probably to keep it tender and juicy.

[Bubba's Mom]

Natural flavors can mean MSG. It really bothers my system, as well as a lot of others I've spoken to. I'm wondering if that could be it? I wish they would quit adding things to meats! I think they add liquid solutions to increase the weight..so they're making more money on it? Infuriating!

The veggies are more curious. If they're processed on lines that do veggies with sauces or breaded coatings it could be cc?

[rana]

thanks for all the useful feedback! sometimes its just nice being validated that you're not crazy and that this is hard for everyone. Funny, I was just talking with my boyfriend last night and we were saying how we would like to acquire our meat more locally, it seems the only really safe route and the only really healthy way to go. We'll have to start looking into that, we live in a good area to make that happen. I have been racking my brain and can't think of anything in the soup that would have made me sick, but you never know, and I have a completely gluten free kitchen (A few months after being diagnosed I realized I was getting CC-ed like crazy, I moved out of a shared living arrangement with several gluteny roommates and bought all new kitchen supplies)...

Anyway thanks again! I'm going to pay much more attention to what kind of meat I buy and pinch pennies even more and buy a little higher quality. And keep that food diary going, our work is never done!

[GlutenFreeManna]

I haven't had Kroger brand but I have definately had reactions to meat with a solution added. Don't know that it's a gluten thing. It could just be that our systems are more sensitive once we go gluten-free. I get grass fed beef and free range organic chicken as much as possible. It not only makes me feel better but it tastes better too! Check out the website eatwild.com to find grass fed meat in your area.

[lynnelise]

So far I've not reacted to any of Kroger's products. I occassionally eat their ground sirloin without issue.

[salexander421]

We haven't had any reactions to kroger brand items...except for the naturally prefered brand dried mango, I emailed them and they confirmed that it was manufactured on shared lines. We eat their frozen veggis all the time (just the plain ones, no seasoning or anything) with no reactions. Me and my youngest have reactions to grain fed beef so if we eat beef at all it's grass fed. Kroger has a 1-800 number you can call to find out if a product is gluten free. Also they have some info on their site Open Original Shared Link I've emailed them a bunch and they've always been great at answering my questions.

Hope you get it figured out!

[lovegrov]

Unless Kroger and Perdue and Holly Farms and other major producers are lying, the solution is usually just water and sodium and sometimes other non-gluten preservatives (which I try to avoid). I've yet to find one that has gluten purposely added, except once when I saw wheat listed in a Walmart beef. I'm talking about raw meats, not the ones that have marinades added.

richard

[rana]

we're not saying they're lying and adding wheat, we're saying there's always the possibility of cross contamination. funny how when i lived in Georgia for a year where there is no Kroger stores, i was feeling much better. now that I've moved and been buying Kroger brand to save money, I'm suddenly getting nailed left and right. I'm not sure what's going on, I'm not telling people to stay away from that brand, simply sharing my experience and curious if anyone else had similar issues. I will shop at their store and appreciate their focus on gluten free items, but will not buy their brand any longer. I know without a doubt their veggies make me ill. I've read on here Birdseye is the way to go...

[Dixiebell]

Hi all. I haven't been here in a while.

I called Kroger a few months ago about the "natural flavors' in their ground beef and was told that it is rosemary oil. We also eat a lot of their products.

[T.H.]

Myself and my daughter react to foods that aren't made in a dedicated facility, too, and one thing that has dinged us frequently is ground beef.

Was the ground beef processed in the butcher area? The trouble we've run into the most is that many beef processing places and butcher shops process their sausages and their ground beef on the same equipment, or in the same area, and many of the sausages contain gluten. Obviously they clean the machinery in-between, but that has still been a problem for us.

We've had better luck with whole cuts of meat vs. ground. We've also had better luck going to the store butcher and asking if they have any cuts of meat that are still sealed from the slaughtering house. If you are willing to get more meat at a time, sometimes you can get the cuts of meat in 10-15 pound sizes, still sealed, that you cut up yourself. If you can't afford local meat, that might be an option.

As for the vegetables and juice, it might be worth checking out if they are processed on gluten free lines, what else is processed in the facility, etc...

I haven't called in a couple years, but when I was first checking out the gluten-free lists from grocery stores, I was told that a lot of the foods on their list were not tested for gluten. So gluten cc could definitely be a possibility.

[wheeleezdryver]

I rarely buy meat form Kroger (I can find it cheaper other places)

I have no problem with their yogurt, I get it when it's on sale, and have no problems.

however, the one time I got some of thier ice cream... June of this year... the ice cream i got had no gluten ingredients, however I deifnately had a reaction to itand i don't have major reactions to gluten, but this one was the worst I've ever had. won't ever buy their ice cream again.

[lovegrov]

T.H., in 10 years I've almost never found sausage with gluten. Yet where you shop you say "many" of them contain gluten. Can you tell us brands or where you shop that they put gluten in a lot of their sausages?

richard

[kareng]

In the US. most sausage doesn't contain gluten. I have never seen a regular grocery store that makes its own sausage at the store. The stores around here do sell sausages but they are made elsewhere. Meat is cut behind the meat counter. I would think if you were worried about a crumb, wash it. Might not work for ground meat. You could ask at your store where the meat is ground & what else is ground.

I have found, even pre-gluten-free, that I prefer the better (also more $) meats. Last weekend my hub looked at the price of some meat he was going to grill & was surprised. But when it was cooked it was sooo much tastier. I told him we don't need the extra hormones, etc & it tastes better. So he's OK. We make up for the cost because once a week, he has his favorite dinner - PB&J and a banana or apple and chips.

[Tree Frog John]

I was diagnosed with celiac in Sept. 2012. My routine blood tests continued to show some mild levels of gluten exposure and I was still not feeling so hot. I went on a serious elimination diet to see if I missed any gluten exposure in my diet. After I stopped taking Kroeger brand generic Ibuprofen I felt 90% better after about 4 days. Was it the Ibu itself or was there gluten in the medication? My next blood test should help solve the mystery. So nice to have my life back and feel so much better!

[cyclinglady]

Good for you! I stick with name brands even though I am good about reading labels. I double check by asking on this forum or calling the manufacturer.

[Lizzo]

Me and my youngest have reactions to grain fed beef so if we eat beef at all it's grass fed.

I have the same problem... it is way more expensive, but I always get sick if I eat anything that isn't grass fed. I also have the same problem with a lot of store-bought eggs. I always blamed it on hormones, but maybe if more celiacs have the same issue, it has more to do with what our food eats before it WE eat it?